Abramis brama - Common Bream
Common bream, also sometimes referred to as Bronze Bream, are fish of
sluggish water. Once a major source of food for poor people in some parts
of Britain, common bream are shoal fish and can grown to over 10 lb
(approx. 4 kg) - the British rod-caught record, from a lake in Norfolk, weighed over 18 lbs. They are long lived and can attain an age of 20 years in
suitable circumstances.
Bream are bottom feeders, living mainly on insect larvae
from the muddy beds of canals, lakes and slow-flowing rivers. They lay
their spawn among weeds in shallow water during June and July, at which
time the males develop white lumps, called tubercles, on their heads.
Young bream are commonly referred to as skimmers or
skimmer bream; they are sometimes mistakenly identified as Silver Bream (Blicca
bjoerkna), a much smaller species with large eyes and reddish pectoral
and pelvic fins.
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